Systems, methods, and devices for controlling a movement of a dipper

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices for controlling an industrial machine. The industrial machine includes, for example, a dipper, a boom, a hoist motor, a crowd motor, one or more operator control devices, and a controller. The control devices are configured to be manually controllable by an operator of the industrial machine. The controller receives an output signal associated with a desired movement of the dipper, receives a signal associated with a hoist motor characteristic, and receives a signal associated with a crowd motor characteristic. The controller determines a present position of the dipper with respect to a boom profile, determines a first future position of the dipper with respect to the boom profile and based on the output signal from the operator control devices, and automatically controls a movement of the dipper with respect to the boom profile when the first future position of the dipper approximately corresponds to a boom profile limit.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An industrial machine comprising:
 a dipper; 
 a boom having a boom profile, the boom profile including a boom profile limit; 
 a hoist motor having a hoist motor characteristic and configured to receive control signals from a hoist drive module; 
 a crowd motor having a crowd motor characteristic and configured to receive control signals from a crowd drive module; 
 one or more operator control devices configured to be manually controllable by an operator of the industrial machine; 
 a controller connected to the one or more control devices, the hoist drive module, and the crowd drive module, the controller configured to
 receive one or more output signals associated with a desired movement of the dipper from the one or more operator control devices, 
 receive one or more signals associated with the hoist motor characteristic, 
 receive one or more signals associated with the crowd motor characteristic, 
 determine a present position of the dipper with respect to the boom profile, 
 determine a first future position of the dipper with respect to the boom profile and based on the one or more output signals from the one or more operator control devices, the one or more signals associated with the hoist motor characteristic, and one or more signals associated with the crowd motor characteristic, and 
 automatically control a movement of the dipper with respect to the boom profile when the first future position of the dipper approximately corresponds to the boom profile limit. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The industrial machine of  claim 1 , wherein the hoist motor characteristic is a rotations per minute (“RPM”) of the hoist motor, and the crowd motor characteristic is an RPM of the crowd motor. 
     
     
       3. The industrial machine of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to override the one or more output signals from the one or more operator control devices when the determined future position of the dipper approximately corresponds to the boom profile limit. 
     
     
       4. The industrial machine of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine a second future position based on the boom profile and the present position of the dipper. 
     
     
       5. The industrial machine of  claim 4 , wherein the controller is further configured to automatically control the movement of the dipper to the second future position. 
     
     
       6. The industrial machine of  claim 5 , wherein the automatic control of the dipper with respect to the boom profile is suspended when the dipper reaches the second future position. 
     
     
       7. The industrial machine of  claim 5 , wherein the second future position is different than the first future position. 
     
     
       8. The industrial machine of  claim 7 , wherein the second future position of the dipper corresponds to a tuck position associated with a beginning of a digging cycle of the industrial machine. 
     
     
       9. A method of controlling an industrial machine, the industrial machine including a dipper, a boom having a boom profile and a boom profile limit, a hoist motor having a hoist motor characteristic and configured to receive control signals from a hoist drive module, a crowd motor having a crowd motor characteristic and configured to receive control signals from a crowd drive module, one or more operator control devices configured to be manually controllable by an operator of the industrial machine, and a controller connected to the one or more operator control devices, the hoist drive module, and the crowd drive module, the method comprising:
 receiving one or more output signals associated with a desired movement of the dipper from the one or more operator control devices; 
 receiving one or more signals associated with the hoist motor characteristic; 
 receiving one or more signals associated with the crowd motor characteristic; 
 determining a present position of the dipper with respect to the boom profile; 
 determining a first future position of the dipper with respect to the boom profile and based on the one or more output signals from the one or more operator control devices, one or more signals associated with the hoist motor characteristic, and the one or more signals associated with the crowd motor characteristic; and 
 automatically controlling a movement of the dipper with respect to the boom profile when the determined future position of the dipper approximately corresponds to the boom profile limit. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the hoist motor characteristic is a rotations per minute (“RPM”) of the hoist motor, and the crowd motor characteristic is an RPM of the crowd motor. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 9 , further comprising overriding the one or more output signals from the one or more operator control devices when the first future position of the dipper approximately corresponds to the boom profile limit. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 9 , further comprising determining a second future position based on the boom profile and the present position of the dipper. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , further comprising automatically controlling the movement of the dipper to the second future position. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the automatic control of the dipper with respect to the boom profile is suspended when the dipper reaches the second future position. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the second future position of the dipper is different than the first future position of the dipper. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the second future position of the dipper corresponds to a tuck position associated with a beginning of a digging cycle of the industrial machine.